Zune HD–Firmware Update with Xvid Support and Streaming Playlists
Microsoft is very busy with software updates for its Zune HD. The Zune HD is a portable media player in the Zune product family by Microsoft released on September 15, 2009 in 16 and 32 GB capacities. Zune HD is the only MP3 player with a touchscreen, HD Radio™, HD video out, and wireless sync.
The upcoming spring update includes support for Xvid encoded videos and streaming playlists. If you have a collection on Xvid movies, this is good news–you won’t have to convert them to other formats to view them on your Zune HD. However, DivX support seems unlikely.
The updates will also support streaming playlists. The streaming playlists will be an extension of the Smart DJ offering already in the Zune desktop software. This will allow the device to offer playlist suggestions much like the iTunes Genius feature.
When the player is in range of Wi-Fi, Smart DJ can stream songs right from the Zune Marketplace without the need for local storage.
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